- A well crafted story can inspire, uplift,
and even transform the way a reader sees the world.
And nonfiction books aren't any different
just because they rely on true events.
If you're looking to craft an engaging,
page-turning story in your nonfiction book,
then this video is for you.
(upbeat music)
Hey there I'm Julie the Book Broad,
founder of Book Launchers
your professional self publishing services team.
Here at Book Launchers,
we rely on our #noboringbooks
when we are helping our authors
write their nonfiction books,
whether it's a business book
on how to work with software engineers,
a relationship advice book,
or a guide to help you get your children
into medical school.
The foundation of a great book is a well crafted story
that readers will find captivating and relatable.
So with a little help
from the writing team at Book Launchers
here are five story writing tips to help you
write a great nonfiction book that tells a great story.
Tip number one, start your story
like you're telling a friend the story.
I'm stealing this first tip straight from a session
with our very own master of manuscripts, Kelly Reagan.
She said, imagine you're talking to a friend
will you tell your friend what happened that day
you don't start with what you had for breakfast
what you were wearing and what the weather was like.
You just cut to the chase of what you have to say.
For example, you might say I was at the bank today
and it was robbed, or I broke my leg,
or he got food poisoning and went to the hospital,
or the bank called and they're foreclosing on the house.
You can fill in the backstory and supporting details
from there but jumping right into the action is essential
because it grabs your reader's attention from the start.
It sets the stakes high right off the bat
and it leaves your readers curious about what comes next.
And that means they're gonna be a lot more likely
to keep turning those pages to find out.
Tip number two, become a story collector,
keep a log of stories.
They don't have to be your stories,
although I want you to keep a log of those too.
Keep a log of stories that showcase examples
of something you believe in, or teach,
or want to highlight in your book.
Pay attention to the world around you.
Did you read a cool story in the newspaper?
Maybe you were listening to a speaker
and they shared a fascinating historical account
you've never heard before.
Even a great TV show can provide a story that can help
showcase a concept that you can use,
fables and fairytales or myths can also work,
pay attention to the world around you
and start collecting stories
that resonate with you.
You can also test them on people and see which ones stick.
Your personal stories are usually the best ones
for your book, but you should also have a mix
of client stories, other people's stories, anecdotes
and case studies to make your book feel fleshed out
and keep it interesting.
And a story doesn't have to be long to add value.
In fact, short stories in nonfiction
tend to be the best to highlight a point.
Although you can weave a longer story into the book as well.
So pay attention when you're walking alone at night
what happens, when you're at an event
what conversations do you have?
Just start watching and listening carefully
and assume that role of story collector.
Tip number three, create some story structure
but you don't need to get too fancy.
Even in nonfiction, your story needs a character
in a problem, maybe that character is you
or maybe it's a client or a family member.
There's usually a decision to make
or some sort of struggle or obstacle to overcome.
You're not necessarily putting together a narrative
which is a sequence of events.
Instead focus on your characters path
to getting what they want and what happens on the way there.
In my book, "Self-Published and Succeed."
One of my stories was about when my son
and I came face to face with a bear.
That was a real obstacle in getting us to the park,
many of the stories I showcase
are more mental obstacles though not four-legged ones.
And the mental obstacle is often harder to overcome
than an actual physical one.
You have to set it up, what does your character want
and what's the struggle to get there?
And because this is nonfiction, you don't need to do a ton
of character development or world building
but you do need to give some descriptors to add more depth
to your story, to do that, it helps to just answer
a few questions in the story.
What is your character want and why,
what has your character tried to do
to get the outcome they want
and what stopped them in their tracks or gone wrong
or just been bad or unexpected?
These things of course can be internal or external,
real or imagined, or a combination of all of the above.
And then of course, do they achieve the outcome?
Whether they do or do not, what is learned
and what changes as a result of that struggle.
Tip number four, only tell stories that fit your hook.
Only tell stories that your reader needs to know
in order to achieve the outcome you want for them
at the end of this book, you can have an amazing
unbelievable story that you want everyone to hear,
that doesn't mean you should share that story in your book.
If you can't tie it back to the hook of your book
it won't serve the book and it won't serve your readers.
So save it for the next book.
Still struggling to nail down the hook of your book?
We talk about that all the time on this channel.
So make sure you've subscribed to the channel
and turn those notifications on so you can get
all the great content plus when you comment
the day a video is released
you can get entered to win some sweet #noboringbooks
swag like our hashtag #noboringbooks mug
or our also soft journal.
No matter whether the story is great or not,
if you can't find a tie into your hook it's gotta go.
Last but certainly not least, tip number five.
This is another epic one from Kelly,
our master of manuscripts.
Kelly gave a simple but impactful strategy
for telling a great story.
Tell the truth, in nonfiction authors often tell only part
of the story to try to make their readers feel
or think a certain way,
maybe you said something inappropriate
or made a decision that you're not proud of,
or you failed miserably at something.
You probably don't want your readers to judge you
or think of you negatively,
so you gloss over certain details
or pretend they don't exist.
Sometimes it's hard to put those uglier things
down on paper, but if you leave them out
the book will feel flat.
You have to tell the truth and all of it
to really put together a dimensional story
for your readers.
This also goes back to a lesson I learned
from the great Hollywood story expert Robert McKee,
stories get their energy from the negative.
That negative is probably the very thing
that embarrasses you or brings you shame
something that you want to hide,
but through that emotional struggle
of your negative is exactly where your readers
will feel true connection
and relate to you beyond that page.
You don't wanna write a boring book, do you?
Heck no, and this video right here will help you craft
that all-important title and subtitle for your book
so it sells and that gives you some great hook examples too.
And this video right here
is how to save 1,418 hours writing your book.
Pretty sure that's an important one for you
unless you have nothing but time on your hands
either way let's keep hanging out.
So click onto the next video and I'll see you there,
coffee is on, oh and I've got some rum
for you too Tobias, cheers.
(upbeat music)